


Friends

by LuciustheDragon



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Tamaki and Haruka are briefly mentioned, the joys of claw machines, usamimi friends shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 15:16:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20311621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciustheDragon/pseuds/LuciustheDragon
Summary: Even if he won't admit it, Iori is a little lost by himself at the Usamimi Friends Theme Park. Torao isn't quite sure why he humoured Haruka by coming with his friends (?) from IDOLiSH7. When these two end up together, perhaps it's fate. Or maybe it's just bad luck.





	Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Hewwo I'm Lucius and this is my work for the 2019 IDOLiSH7 Flashbang! Thanks so much to the mods for organising this event and bringing everyone together!
> 
> And special thanks to @stardastarly on twitter for her lovely art. Please check it out!! https://twitter.com/stardastarly/status/1163514925320306688?s=21
> 
> I hope you enjoy this little piece hehe

It may have been amusing for five minutes to watch Izumi Iori as he wanders like a lost puppy, but now it’s just getting annoying. Torao would have let the kid be if he wasn’t worried about getting an earful from Haruka later. He’s not being nice by approaching him. It’s for his own convenience. He throws out various excuses in his head like he throws out money. It’s a temporary solution to an unsolvable problem.

“Looks like you got left behind, huh, Iori.” He bristles before he turns around, visibly on the defensive, and Torao thinks he might have some fun after all. 

“I was not! I just wanted to observe the sights alone, Mido-san. Actually, you know what? I don’t need to justify myself to you of all people anyway.”

“Yet you did anyway.” Iori has no rebuttal other than sputtering something unintelligible. He clears his throat, pinches the crease of his brow, then tries to act as if his loss of composure never happened. 

“If you’re looking to babysit, I believe Yotsuba-san and Isumi-san would be in dire need.”

“They’ll be fine. Neither of them really need babysitting. Besides, I can’t have my fun here if they’re around.” Torao knows exactly what implication his words have. It’s an implication that would fluster this boy and keep him at a more comfortable distance.

Except it’s not, because Iori looks relieved for some reason. 

“Me neither. Ah, I didn’t realise that Mido-san also felt that way.”

Oh. Well, this is certainly an unexpected development. Unexpected and very interesting. Izumi Iori the playboy, eh?

“Yep. It’s definitely troublesome with other people around.”

“So you can understand. Then… it’s okay. At least you don’t need to hold back around me, since...since I, too, love Usamimi Friends!”

Wait.

_ Wait, no. _

He was not banking on Iori being such a pure maiden! Not that what he is saying is  _ not _ true, but it certainly was not what Torao meant. With that, however, he is beginning to realise why Haruka was begging him to come along. It might actually not be so bad to indulge this kid; Torao sees Iori and Tamaki more as Haruka’s classmates than as rival idols anyway. They’re just kids. Naïve, kind kids. 

“Yeah. For a guy like me, it doesn’t fit the image. ‘S not like people would like it if I really liked something that cute, huh…”

“I don’t know about that.” Iori enters a dramatic thinking posture. “It’s amazing  _ gap moe _ .” He nods sagely, like he did not just say something absurd.

“Me?  _ Moe _ ? You trying to make a fool of me now?”

“I’m just telling the truth.” Bullshit.

“Uhuh, and I’m sure you’d be perfectly fine with me pointing out your ‘ _ gap moe _ ’ or what not, right?”

Iori was just getting comfortable, and now he’s sputtering again. Such a shame. “Th-That’s not even remotely the same! It’s not true.”

Torao grins. “You’re right, it’s not true. You’re just cute all around.” His grin widens; Iori really is fun to mess with.

“You’re incorrigible.” He’s talking big, but it’s hard to take him seriously with his voice trembling a little bit and his face turning red.

“Now you’re starting to understand me.” Iori narrows his eyes and pouts.

“Yeah. You’re terrible, Mido-san.” Ouch. Well, he knows how to turn things around anyway.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll get you something from one of those awful claw machines, so don’t be mad.”

Iori’s brow furrows, and he’s frowning full-on. Maybe this won’t be quite so easy. “Do you really think I’m that easy to win over?”

“Of course. I can win anyone over if I give them what they want.” Iori just gapes for a bit, and Torao briefly wonders if he said something really out of line. However, Iori seems to have a moment of realisation and smiles. False alarm; it’s still easy.

“Very well, then. Let’s see if that works, Mido-san.”

“I know it will.”

The pair head over to an area with the claw machines. Each of them has different themed outfits for the mascots. Torao is fully prepared for Iori to take a very long time to decide which machine to choose, but he actually makes a beeline towards the hero-themed mascot machine. 

“This one, please. The limited edition pink Usamimi Ranger figure.” What a complete lack of luck Torao has. That is the only Usamimi Ranger that he doesn’t have, and now he owes it to this kid. Well, that’s the price he pays for who he is.

“Yeah, sure. No problem.” Whatever. He’s sure somebody will be willing to resell it anyway. Not like money is any object. It’s fine.

It’s taking a lot more tries than Torao expected to get the figure, and he’s starting to get frustrated. And when Torao gets frustrated, he gets impatient. The chances of him actually getting the figure are dwindling drastically despite the figure moving closer to the goal. He could bribe someone to get the figure to save him the trouble, but with Iori around, it would honestly be more troublesome.

“Mido-san. You’re not getting the right angle.”

What nerve, talking like that to the person who’s getting you the limited edition figure. “Yeah? Well, if you know so well, how about you try it?”

“I would be happy to.” Torao intended to pay for the attempt, but Iori ends up paying before Torao can react. He makes small, precise movements, fully concentrated on the task in front of him. It’s hard to believe that some high schooler could have this amount of focus. It pays off, too, because Iori gets it on his first try. He pulls it out from the prize compartment.

“Here.” He hands the figure to Torao. “It’s yours.”

“I...What?”

“Seeing you working hard was enough to forgive you for teasing. Besides, I know you would want it anyway.”

“You...You’re not even getting anything from this. What the hell was the point?”

“I was testing your character. You could have paid off a worker to get the figure. Of course that isn’t anything I would approve of, and you knew that. You could have just gotten what I asked for by any means necessary, but you put in the work anyway.” Ah, Torao’s pride is in shambles. He just got outplayed by a child.

“I take everything back. You’re not cute at all!”

“I told you so.”

“But…” He looks down at his figure. “Thanks. I’m kinda touched. How did you know that I wanted this?”

“I saw you at all of the Usamimi Ranger themed places before I got left behind—I mean, went off on my own. I assumed it was because that was the closest thing to regular super heroes, but after knowing that you love Usamimi Friends, I figured out that you were just an especially big fan of the Usamimi Rangers.”

“Devious.”

“I was not devious! Just observant.” It took until just now for Torao to realise that he was actually enjoying the banter. It isn’t one-sided at all whatsoever; Iori’s precociousness does him some favours sometimes.

“That’s fair. Maybe.” Iori laughs a bit. It’s nice. This all is pretty nice.

“Say, Iori. I’ll get you something from the claw machine. For real this time.”

“This isn’t just to return the favour, is it?”

“No. I just want to… you know, put the ‘friends’ in Usamimi Friends.” That was terrible.

Iori blinks once, then twice, then he smiles. “That was terrible.” Well, maybe not  _ that _ terrible.


End file.
